A technical mission from the Chilean Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) will arrive in Argentine in the first week of September to “verify on-site the epidemiological conditions and measures applied at sanitary barriers, with the goal of reestablishing imports to Chile from Patagonia as soon as possible,” the Chilean health service (SAG) stated.
Starting in July this year, and after some back and forth, Argentine relaxed the sanitary barrier separating the foot-and-mouth disease-free zone without vaccination (Patagonia) from the vaccinated zone (the rest of the country), allowing the entry of flat-boned meat from the latter into the former.
The measure prompted Chile to preemptively suspend the import of animals and animal products from Patagonia. This decision generated considerable controversy but, in practice, has little impact, as almost all of the meat Argentine exports to Chile is boneless beef from the vaccinated region.
Specifically, the measure affected the shipment of breeding animals and genetic material to the neighboring country, as well as lamb meat, which is so small that it is not registered with the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). However, Chile has indicated that it intends to resolve the situation soon.
